A recent study in Canada discloses that there are safety implications when patients “act aggressively or refuse to believe the doctor’s diagnosis.”
Among the problems are patients who self-diagnose via the Internet and those who don’t disclose taking alternative medications. Often times, interactions between “natural” and prescription medications can be significant.
Sub-optimal trust and open communication lines only impedes appropriate diagnosis and treatment, and in some cases, can jeopardize patient safety.
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- Heart attacks: "Time is muscle"
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I’d be willing to bet most of us laypeople with computers look up our symptoms on the internet. Gotta do something while waiting for the appointment, and if you’re prone to anxiety, the first thing you’re going to do is surf for possible diseases.
The problem is with those who naïvely and narcissistically believe reading a couple of over-simplified medical articles, often of questionable origin, without benefit of medical training, experience or context, makes them just as competent at diagnosis as their doctors. Not so.
I always tell my doc, “I read about such and such on the internet (at which point she cringes),” then defer to her on diagnosis and treatment.
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